Southwest Steel Guitar Convention – Phoenix AZ

This convention is becoming one of the top places to be in the world if you love steel guitar. The organizers have done a great job putting together a show with great players, and vendors.

I spent Friday in a day-long seminar with Doug Jernigan. This was an advanced seminar to explore speed picking and scales on the E9 pedal steel neck. He also spoke about the C6 neck for a short while. He gave me some great tips and plenty of material to study for the next year!!

But the highlight for me of course was the non-pedal room! Chuck Lettes from Denver organized this event. It was the first year in Phoenix that they had a non-pedal session. It ran on Saturday from noon to 5pm in a smaller conference room upstairs from the main room. This session was well attended and there were many great players. I did a short set of Hawaiian steel and I think folks enjoyed it. My friends from the Arizona Opry – Bill Wells and Brad Fitch backed me up.

If you ever find yourself in Arizona in the winter – keep this show in mind. It’s going to keep getting better and you’ll have many opportunities to explore the world of steel guitar in the beautiful southwestern US.